Bringing Peace
by tulip meadow
Summary: Lena, the Trickster Princess, encounters a stranger on the Hudson River! A young foreigner who's asking everyone for help. The Grimms and the Hand both agree to help her! Why? Will she bring peace to them at last? And will she find her own happy ending?
1. A Woman In A Boat

**Chapter 1. A Woman In A Boat**

Helene, the Trickster Princess, was watching the Hudson River. Everything had been really peaceful that day, and she was bored. Jonathan, her brother, was certainly enjoying himself on the base, and Mom and Dad were celebrating the end of the recently won battle. Only Helene – with a flock of pixies, of course – was forced to watch the river in case the enemies come.

"And no tricks," Mom had ordered. Oh, what awful boredom!

"Stupid Hand," Helene muttered. Just then, she suddenly spotted a tiny boat approaching her.

The young fairy was more than startled. Enemies didn't like small boats, and no real friends of the good guys were left alive outside the forests Ferryport Landing. Then _who _was that? A tourist? Helene laughed at the thought.

A young pretty brunette, not more than twenty-five years old, dressed in a black old-fashioned gown, was sitting in that boat, accompanied by a three-year-old girl. They had no weapons and probably were completely unaware of the war.

"Who are you?" Helene called them. The boat came to the bank, and the woman and the girl jumped out of it.

"We're from another world," the woman explained slowly, with a foreign accent, trying to find the right words.

Helene was just as skeptical as her mother, so she replied with a doubtful "oh!"

"We _are _from another world," the strange guest repeated. "I'm the Princess of Stones."

"Of _what_?"

"That was my foster mother's title, and she died," the brunette shrugged. "And this is my adopted daughter Vera. Sorry, she can't speak English."

"Why did you come here?" Helene cried, trying to figure everything out in the whole odd thing.

"We heard that the descendants of the Brothers Grimm live in this world," the woman said.

"Well, yes, that's true, my mother's actually one of them. Was your story documented by Jacob and Wilhelm?"

"No, not at all," the stranger smiled faintly. "My story was documented only a year ago** (A/N at the end of the chapter)**. The things they said in the film weren't all true... Oh, I need to see the characters of one of the Grimms' fairy tales."

"Which one?" Helene wanted to know, still confused.

"I don't know its title. It's about two twin brothers who were great friends and who also befriended wild animals. One of them killed a dragon and married a princess, but then a witch turned him and his animal friends into stones. Then his brother rescued him. I don't actually know the details."

"_I_ know whom you are referring to. These twins, Hans and Ludwig, as well as Rosa the princess and the animals, are our good friends."

"Oh," the woman sighed and murmured something in her own language. "I must see them. As soon as possible."

"Wait, what's your name?"Helene exclaimed.

"It's Kate in English."

"Helene, the Trickster Princess – Lena for friends," Kate shook Helene's hand.

"One more question," Helene added. "Are you sympathetic to the Scarlet Hand?"

"Sorry?"

"Er… Are you friends with the Scarlet Hand?"

"I have no idea what it is," Kate said, looking straight at Helene. Her eyes were genuine and very sad.

"Assuming you're right – I have weapons anyway…" Helene said, still a little doubtful. "Follow me."

Kate said something to Vera in another language, and Helene led them to the fort.

* * *

**A/N: It's my favorite movie, it came out in October 2009. I loved it all except for the ending – I'm changing it right in this fanfic.**


	2. Kate's Story

**PLEASE NOTE: Granny's free of Mirror, he's in his old body – but not inside a mirror anymore. **

* * *

**Chapter 2. Kate's Story**

The Master of the Scarlet Hand was disappointed. Another battle was lost. How long was it lasting? It was the eighth battle in a row won by the Grimms!

"How could you?" he yelled for the second time. Nottingham was kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"How _could _you? Do you want to be fired or, maybe, even hanged?"

"Our battalion was outnumbered, Master!" Sheriff cried. "We had thirty-four soldiers!"

"Don't you have a crystal ball to shout for help whenever you like?" Mirror asked.

"We do, but…"

"It's the eighth _but _I hear during the month! Wasn't it you who didn't want to take many soldiers to the river?"

"Mercyyy!" Nottingham screamed. The card guards prepared their axes. They knew it when Mirror got really furious. They knew when to chop a head off after a simple nod of the Master's head.

Nottingham was saved by another card soldier, rushing inside.

"Sorry to interrupt, Master, but there's a letter! It came in an empty boat!" he said, rather out of breath.

"Is it from the Grimms and Charming?" Mirror asked.

"No, Master, it's addressed to you personally. In two languages, by the way; I can't understand the second one."

"_Two _languages?" Mirror raised his eyebrow. He forgot about Nottingham and walked to the guard to take the letter from him.

When he looked at it, he let out a dazzled exclaim.

"Oh my!" he stuttered and opened the letter.

Nottingham and the guards were waiting patiently for him to read it. When he did, he laughed shortly and bitterly:

"I've told her so a million times, but back then she wouldn't listen, of course!"

"Who's _she_, if I may ask, Master?" one of the guards wondered politely.

"Kate, a foster daughter of one of my owners. A rather good friend of mine, actually," Mirror replied, suddenly softened. "She needs help. We must help her."

"With pleasure!" Nottingham assured Mirror.

"With difficulty," Mirror mumbled. "The Blue Fairy, curse her, has gone to hiding again, and Baba Yaga has ran away in her house ten years ago…"

"Is the thing _this _difficult?" everyone cried. "Can't we manage it by ourselves?"

"No," Mirror said with certainty.

"But what's this about, Master, can we know?" Nottingham stood up.

"The most trivial story on earth," Mirror said. "She married a young (and a rather dull) handsome man she barely knew, now he's long dead, and she has realized that she has true love for another one."

"What's the problem, then, Master?" one of the guards wished to know.

"That _another one_ is turned into a lifeless stone by the most powerful spell imagined," Mirror grunted. "The person who did it is dead as well. We must find some way to revive the poor man."

"And make sure he falls in love with Kate?" Nottingham suggested.

"Oh, no worries about this," Mirror frowned. "He madly loves her already – he was spellbound for her, in fact. All we need is to break that stone spell. The only trouble with it is that it's dreadfully powerful. It was designed to be _unbreakable_."

The guards and Nottingham looked at each other helplessly.

"All right, let me think!" Mirror said finally and marched into his personal office.

* * *

Helene, Kate and Vera walked to the gates of Fort Charming, and Helene spoke the password that opened the magical lock.

They went inside and were "welcomed" by a plateful of meat soup. Kate and Vera shrieked in fright.

"Jonathan! Control yourself!" a quite exhausted cry came next, and a middle-aged woman came out of one of the cabins. She spotted the visitors and got even angrier:

"Jonathan! Can't you see we have newcomers? Come here now and apologize!"

A golden-haired boy with pearl white wings hovered down from the wall. He noticed Kate and Vera and said:

"Sorry. I thought Lena was alone."

"He does it on a regular basis. Every five minutes," Lena whispered to Kate and then spoke louder:

"Kate, meet my brother Jonathan, the Trickster Prince, and my Grandma Veronica Grimm. Jonathan, Grandma, that's Kate and her foster daughter Vera."

"She doesn't know English," Kate said again. Vera smiled at the people.

"What a nice girl!" Veronica exclaimed. "And her name is almost like mine.

"Grandma, Kate wants to see Hans and Ludwig – these two hunters, you know," Lena said.

"Oh, I'll call them now," Veronica nodded, slightly surprised.

"I'm faster!" Jonathan shouted and flew away in a flash.

"Please, come to the central cabin, have some tea or coffee," Veronica said to the guests and gestured to the cabin in question. Kate and Vera had a short talk.

"No, thanks," Kate finally answered.

"Where's everyone else?" Lena asked Veronica.

"Mom and Dad are in the garden; Uncle and Great-Uncle are on the watchtower, Grandpa and Oma are discussing the plans with Mr. Seven. Aunt Daphne's doing her task," Veronica said.

"What does _Oma_ mean?" Kate suddenly wanted to know.

"Ah, _Oma_ is _Granny_ in German. We call our great-grandmother Relda so, because she's German and to differ her from Grandma Veronica and Grandma Titania," Lena explained.

Just then, Jonathan appeared – along with two twin brothers in their early forties. Both had guns and knives with them.

"Hans, Ludwig, this lady, Kate, wants to ask you about something," Jonathan said and flew away again.

"Hello, ma'am," the twins said in unison. "What's it?"

"One of you was once turned into a stone," Kate hurriedly started. "Do you have the spell-breaker which changed you back – whatever it was – with you?"

"No, we've never had it, ma'am!" Hans (or was it Ludwig?) said, surprised. "We killed the witch and threw the wand into a big bonfire! We didn't want people to be turned into stones with it again, so we had to destroy it!"


	3. What Bird's Next?

**You may have wondered what was Daphne's task. You may have wondered why Veronica didn't mention Red. This chapter will tell you the answers.**

* * *

**Chapter 3. What Bird's Next?**

*The events take place a bit earlier than those in the previous chapter*

Daphne was constructing a temporary bridge made of wooden sticks over the forest river. Suddenly, a small boat slammed into it. There was no one in the boat, only an envelope was lying on the floor.

"What an odd way to send a letter," Daphne said to herself. For safety, she glanced at the envelope and blanched. The first word on it wasn't in English, but the following were certainly a bad sign:

_To Mirror_

"Uh-oh," Daphne breathed and opened the envelope with her pocket-knife. Then she groaned, disappointed. It was written in a foreign language as well.

Daphne phoned Sabrina immediately:

"Hey, big sister, do we have a magical translator or anything of that kind? I've just caught a letter addressed to Mirror, but it's not in English."

"Daphne, I'm almost sure that your iPhone 9G possesses a new feature: it can scan a written piece and translate it into any other language you like. The program's called Apple Interpreter or something. Search for it now."

Daphne used her iPhone only for communication purposes, she was fairly unaware of what programs were there on the menu. She flipped through the list and finally found a large picture of an apple with large eyes, wearing even larger glasses, and a name "_**Apple Interpreter +**_".

The girl put the letter several inches below the phone and clicked on the program's name. It was quite easy to understand, and soon _**Apple Interpreter +**_ was in a progress of scanning, understanding, and translating the text.

In two minutes, there was a text in English on the iPhone screen. Daphne read it carefully:

* * *

_Dear Mirror,_

_Do you remember me, Kate, the foster daughter of the Stone Princess? I know that the Princess treated you badly, but, as I remember, I was a good friend of yours._

_I'm writing this to you because of my utter despair. Granny was able to find out that you're in America… You see, I've realized that I married John too early, without even getting acquainted with him closer. He was my hero, my savior, and I didn't think much. But later after the wedding, I began to understand that I don't love him – and worse, I wasn't even able to love him. He was a friend – not even a bosom friend – let alone being a loved husband. I felt so sorry but I couldn't help myself!_

_Then the Stone Princess died, because she became a mortal – remember? Then John died of fever. The landlord allowed me to live with a large pension as a widow, but I refused and moved to Granny's house. Also I adopted a small orphan girl, Vera._

_I was trying to find a way to revive Iangul. Now I know that the only person I would ever be able to love was him. But Granny's not powerful enough to break that dreaded stone spell. Neither is anyone. Oh, I'm desperate! Mirror, you're the only one left of my friends! Please, help me! You're acquainted with many wizards! You possess some powers yourself! I'll do anything to correct the mistakes of my past and bring Iangul back to life! _

_I remain your true friend,_

_Kate._

* * *

Soon after Daphne had finished reading, Sabrina called her again.

"Daphne! What's about the letter?"

"I have no idea," Daphne said. "It's written by a friend of Mirror's and has nothing to do with the Hand – as I can see, at least. I checked the paper for any spells or secret codes – there's nothing of that kind either."

"Which means Mirror has a friend," Sabrina said with sarcasm. "Are you sure about the contents?"

"Very sure! It mentions people who don't even live in Ferryport Landing."

"Can you read it aloud?"

Daphne read it, and Sabrina was relieved:

"Well, I doubt that Mirror will help this Kate person. Anyway, the letter's not a danger. You know, some years ago Dad urged me to learn the list of the Hand's members by heart, and neither of the names mentioned here was on the list. I know it. So send it further to the Hand. You should be concentrated on Red's rescue."

Daphne put the letter back into the envelope, sealed it and pushed the boat further.

She was actually on her way to the Hand's central base to free Red. Red Riding Hood was captured during the last time when the Hand attacked the fort. The girl was taken only as a hostage, because she had no important documents or information, neither was she a powerful warlock.

The Hand demanded an astronomical amount of magical items in exchange for Red, so, naturally, paying them was out of the question. Daphne was sent to break into the prison and free the poor girl. She was only a mile away from the Scarlet Fort now.

She got to the opposite bank of the river and destroyed her bridge. That was the moment when she heard a frequent crashing sound getting closer.

"Sounds like Baba Yaga's coming back," Daphne shuddered. "Everyone seems to have agreed to bother my rescue operation."

Crash, crash, crash, crash, crash – and an enormous moving wooden shack appeared among the trees and the bushes. But it was somehow different from the familiar Baba Yaga's house. It was equipped with goose legs, not with chicken ones.

"What bird comes next?" Daphne wondered mentally.

An elderly woman faintly resembling Baba Yaga looked out of the window:

"Hey, girl, have you seen a young woman passing somewhere here?" she called with an accent.

"What kind of a young woman?" Daphne asked, confused.

"Short, with long black hair, dark eyes, a slightly tanned face, dressed in black. Accompanied by a three-year-old red-haired girl in a yellow gown."

"No, I haven't seen them," Daphne shrugged. "If I do, what should I tell them?"

"Nothing. I just want to be sure they're all right."

"Are you a relation of Baba Yaga's?" Daphne couldn't hold her tongue. "She looks a little like you and her house is like yours, only it has chicken legs."

"She's my younger sister, but you can call me Baba Yaga as well," the woman nodded. "Does she live here?"

"Not anymore, she went away in her house."

"If you meet her again, say hello for me," Baba Yaga-the elder one smiled, waved her hand, and her shack marched further into the woods.

Daphne continued walking until the red towers of the Scarlet Fort could be seen right in front of her.


	4. Magic Wood

**Chapter 4. Magic Wood**

*Starts right where Chapter 2 left off*

Kate was dumbfounded. She looked at the men and stammered:

"At least… can't you tell me where I can get a similar wand?"

"Sorry," Hans shrugged. "We're hunters, not woodcutters. We don't know much about the sorts of magic wood."

"Whom should we ask, then?" Lena exclaimed and looked at Veronica. Veronica looked at Jonathan. Jonathan helplessly glanced at Lena.

"Let's call the rest of us," Lena decided. Kate started weeping bitterly, wiping tears away. Veronica rushed to her:

"Kate, please, don't lose hope. Everything is going to be all right. My relatives will help. That's what we always do."

"Mama!" Vera cried, immediately worried. Kate spoke some calming words to her.

"I'll go call everyone," Lena smiled reassuringly and ran in the direction of the fort's watchtower. Hans and Ludwig quietly tiptoed away, saddened.

* * *

Basil Grimm and his Uncle Jake were nearly freezing. It was a cloudy and rather windy day, and the newly built watchtower was nearly a hundred feet high.

"I'm-m g-going t-to turn-n in-n-nto a piece of-f ic-ce now," Basil shuddered.

"Oh, indeed," Uncle Jake agreed. "It's October, after all. Don't worry, the Hand isn't going to attack today. I'm fairly sure of it. They lost thirty powerful soldiers."

Suddenly, a flapping sound came from below, and Lena, with her bluish wings, flew over to the enormous window of the watchtower.

"There's an Everafter that needs help!" she cried. "We have a family meeting, Uncles."

"What's it about? Let me guess," Uncle Jake said. "A person has deserted the Hand and now wants a new home. Another refugee has arrived. A fairy…"

"Nothing of that kind!" Lena said sharply. "She'll tell you everything herself."

"OK, but let us call another guards to the watchtower first," Basil nodded. Lena nodded in reply and flew to the garden, fast as the lightning.

* * *

Sabrina and Puck were discussing an important matter. After the battle, Puck put a large green snail onto the kitchen table of their living cabin. Jonathan and Lena laughed to tears, but Sabrina was furious – as usual.

"Ugly, how can you defeat the Hand if you're scared of snails?" Puck asked sarcastically.

Just when Sabrina was ready with a proper answer, she spotted her daughter descending from the sky.

"Lena!" she smiled. "What happened?"

"Mommy, we have a case to solve," Lena explained, nearly out of breath. "Grandma Veronica has called you to a family meeting."

"Shouldn't we wait for Marshmallow and Red?" Puck suggested. "They love solving cases."

"We'd better start now, 'cause the Hand is temporarily weakened and we have time," Sabrina argued.

By the time, Lena had already flown away.

* * *

Henry Grimm and his mother were in the very center of Fort Charming. In the office of General Seven, to be exact. Mr. Seven was discussing the plan for the following month of November with them.

"We're not too weak yet not strong enough," he sighed for the hundredth time. "Our forces are equal now, and we must find a way to out-trick the Hand."

"Why are they still following Mirror?" Henry exclaimed. "We've won many battles. I wonder how Mirror remains respectable in his Scarlet Fort."

"I long for peace," Relda said in a singsong voice. "We must defeat the Hand."

"So, we're decided about that attack in the pine forest, huh?" Henry asked Seven.

"Yeah, I'll start training tomorrow. Today everybody's celebrating."

They heard a knock at the door. Lena was found standing there.

"Grandpa, Oma, are you very busy now?" she asked.

"We've decided everything for the first ten days of November," Henry smiled. "What's it?"

"An Everafter from another universe needs help," Lena said. "It's a very hard case, we need the help of all in the family."

"Wonderful!" Granny Relda cried cheerfully. "I'd love some rest. If the case doesn't involve planning world-saving battles…"

"Not at all," Lena chuckled. "As long as I've learned it's about some unique magic wand."

"I'm in," Granny and Henry said together.

* * *

Soon every Grimm (except for Daphne and Red, of course) was gathered in the main yard. While a magic mirror named Reggie, who knew every modern language, talked to Vera to distract the child from serious matters, Veronica urged Kate to tell her story. Kate hesitated:

"I don't want to tell strangers about it."

"Well, now, we won't probably be able to help you without knowing what exactly we must do," Puck said.

Kate sighed deeply.

"I don't know my true parents," she began, speaking slower than ever. "I was kidnapped in infancy by the mighty Stone Princess, daughter of Baba Yaga."

"Wait!" Sabrina cried. "Did Baba Yaga have a daughter?"

* * *

"The one who lived here didn't, her elder sister did," Kate said. "Well, the Stone Princess wanted me to help her with conquering the world using a magical Amber Stone. It was to be brought to life, and if that happened, the Princess would become the Queen of everything.

"Baba Yaga looked after me and taught me a little wizardry. She was very kind – as if she was my true Granny. I had rarely met the Princess herself. My life was pretty quiet and uneventful until I turned sixteen. That's when I accidentally met Iangul, a literally stone-hearted man who commanded the stone soldiers' army and was considered as the Stone Princess's most loyal servant. He scared me terribly: he had never showed his feelings – _any_ feelings – and rarely ever spoke, only when being asked. His hands were so lifeless and cold and his face was always deadly serious.

"He started visiting Baba Yaga's house more often than usual – to see me, and soon the Stone Princess found that he had spent most of his time on the visits.

"Just then, I got secretly acquainted with John, a peasant lad from a village not far Baba Yaga's house, who dreamed of becoming a famous gem-cutter. He wanted to carve that magical Amber Stone in such a way so that it would come to life. He also wished to avenge his father's death – his father was killed by the Stone Princess… I offered to help him. We needed both to prevent the Amber Stone from damaging the world and to make sure the Stone Princess pays for her cruelty.

"Back then I thought I was in love with John. He promised to save me from the Princess's control – he was a rather _handsome_ hero too… I gave him a magical book that held the secrets of gemstone-cutting."

"Weren't you afraid of being caught by the Stone Princess?" Sabrina exclaimed.

"I was – but I was so set on escaping this small, scary enchanted world… You see, the Princess wanted worldwide powers, and she didn't harm John who had a jeweler's talent and was able to bring the Amber Stone to _life_. But she trapped me inside her tower and tried to force me to marry Iangul. I kept refusing. First Iangul was more than jealous, but later…" Kate burst into tears. "He was the one who released me from the tower. He loved me so much that all he cared about was my happiness. When the Stone Princess noticed John and me gone – along with the Amber Stone – she turned Iangul into a stone."

Tears were running down her face.

"But what about that magical stone you spoke about?" Granny Relda asked, taking notes on a piece of paper.

"John learned the magic secrets and carved the Amber Stone into a shape of a rose. The Stone became alive, and we found out a way to delete its bad powers," Kate replied. "It turned the Stone Princess into a good woman, after all. She became a mortal and died of a heart disease three years later. As for me, I married John – my blond-haired young hero. But then, after an amount of time passed, I found out that he wasn't the man I could love. He was too cheery – talkative – always overexcited – too childish – I just _couldn't_ love him… Oh, I shouldn't say it. He had died too."

She sobbed.

"Oh, I see now!" Lena cried. "You want to revive Iangul, right? That's why you need that magic wand?"

Kate nodded while crying.

Sabrina stepped forward:

"I don't want to seem rude, but Daphne has accidentally caught your letter in the boat – and translated it using modern gadgets. But then we didn't understand it… Sorry."

"Oh, did you keep it to yourself?" Kate exclaimed.

"No, I told Daphne to send it further to the destination."

"What letter?" Puck asked his wife.

"It was addressed to Mirror," she said. A startled gasp rose in the small crowd.

Kate raised her hand:

"Please, I don't quite understand why you hate Mirror. But he's my friend. The Stone Princess kept him as a servant, but, I swear, we used to be truly good friends. He was the only one in the Stone Tower – besides Iangul – who cared for me. I know he'll help."

"Help indeed!" Sabrina groaned. "Never trust his friendship, Kate. He's evil, I know better."

Kate's eyes welled with tears again:

"Maybe… he'll remember… _I_ was the only person in the tower who considered him as a living soul…"

"Perhaps, we won't even need his help," Granny smiled. "Let's think logically. A magic wand can revive a stone statue. It's wooden, right? All wands are made mostly of wood, though they're later gilded and decorated and so on. So that one was made of a special, magic kind of wood as well. Which means…"

"We need this sort of wood!" Jonathan cried.

"It's awesome to cut wood and scare people with the sounds of falling trees!" his father smirked. "Where does the magic wood for the Stone-Spell-Breaking wands grow?"

Silence.


	5. The Result of Eavesdropping

**Disclaimer for everyone who read the previous chapter: we all know none of us owns the SG, but I don't own Kate, Iangul, and John either. I only changed their story, but they were created in The Book of Masters movie.**

* * *

**Chapter 5. The Results Of Eavesdropping**

Daphne crept to the castle's sandstone wall. Before going to rescue Red, she had studied the plans of the Scarlet Fort for four days. She knew every foot of this wall, despite she had never been here alone before.

"The prison's there, right behind it," she remembered as she took the Vorpal blade. This blade was given to her, because there was no one else who'd be this careful with magical objects.

The blade cut a tiny hole in the sandstone, and Daphne looked through it. The fort's prison yard was empty. Completely empty. There were no lazy goblin guards, no cheering elves – there was nobody. Daphne was even a little frightened:

"It might be a trap," she guessed. But what could she do? She was told to come home with Red. There would be no other chance for the rescue operation in the nearest future.

Daphne cut a hole large enough in the wall and jumped into the fort. Then she put the sandstones back into the wall. The hole was so accurately cut that no one would have noticed the small crack between the stones.

The girl ran to the prison building and heard people talking loudly in there. She held her breath and hid behind a large chunk of stone. She could comprehend the words spoken inside the prison.

"Glinda, our Master is going crazy. He hates all humans yet he wants to help some silly human with some stupid love story. Don't you think I might be a better leader?" it was Oz's voice. Oz had recently moved into Ferryport Landing.

"Oz, don't speak like that. Without our Master, we wouldn't have risen to power!" Glinda's voice responded.

"Indeed. But, well, you know, now he doesn't have the faintest idea about what to do. We keep losing battles, the Grimms have many followers, and the Master blames it all on us!"

"On Nottingham."

"No, Glinda, he blames it on us! Now we have only planned a small demonstration against him, and he threw us into a prison."

"That was right from his point of view. Don't worry, Oz, maybe when he helps that human he'll forget about all this thing. The human used to be his friend."

"The Grimms used to be his friends too! It's not an excuse! Can you imagine, the Master organized a full-length operation – just to help that wretched human!"

"So Mirror will help that girl, after all," Daphne chuckled to herself. "He's lucky to have _some _friends left. Oh, and some members of the Scarlet Hand wanted to plan a revolution… interesting…"

* * *

She tiptoed around the prison, looking into the tiny windows. Some cells were empty and some were not, but it took Daphne ten minutes to find Red.

"Hey, Red!" she whispered through the cell's window when she finally noticed the girl. "I'm going to cut a hole in the wall with the Vorpal blade. Your job is to keep silent. Understand?"

She saw Red nodding and acted immediately. Soon a piece of the prison's wall was lying on the ground, and Red ran outside. They hugged, and Daphne said quietly:

"Now. Quick! There's no one around here, but it might be a trap."

Red nodded again, and they crept to the wall of the fortress. Suddenly, Daphne heard some voices again, and both the trembling girls hid under a jasmine bush.

"So, do you understand?" Mirror said sharply to someone. "Pinocchio had once told me the location of it. It's not far from Rome."

"I see, Master," it was the Beast who replied.

"We have ten unicorns and five flying stallions. What would you take?"

"A flying stallion, Master, if I can."

"Good. Come and take one. You must be back in a week at most, understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"Try not to fight with the Grimms' followers. You don't have many weapons."

"I won't even come near Fort Charming."

"Excellent. Go, Beast."

"Thank you, Master."

The Beast walked away, and Mirror murmured something to himself.

"If we only knew where's Beast going," Daphne breathed. She was tired, and they yet needed to walk four miles through the forest to get home! Unfortunately, now they couldn't leave their hiding place. Mirror continued wandering to and fro on the path. But in five minutes…

"Master!" Nottingham called. "I have a new battle plan!"

"Oh, really?" Mirror said with a hint of sarcasm. "Let me take a look."

He marched to the Scarlet Palace. Nottingham was looking out of the window, waving a piece of paper in the air excitedly.

"Now or never," Daphne commanded. She and Red rushed to the sandstone wall, and Red got out.

* * *

A small detail can spoil everything. Like it did this time. An apple peel was lying on the ground under an apple-tree, and Daphne slipped on it.

"Aw!" she shrieked. Somebody must have heard it. She could hear people coming.

"Run!" Daphne shouted to Red, who was gazing at it, shocked and frightened. But she controlled herself and ran away into the woods, looking back several times.

Daphne had just the time to put the sandstone into the wall, when three card soldiers appeared. It didn't trouble them to catch Daphne and handcuff her hands.

"The Master is… er… behaving strange lately," the Four of Spades said. "He ordered not to hurt the prisoners. Thank your luck, Grimm human."

"What's up there?" Mirror's and Nottingham's voices called.

"Nothing special, Master!" the Ace of Clubs yelled back. "We only captured Daphne Grimm!"

Mirror walked to the group:

"Don't hurt her or anyone in the prison," he ordered. "I'm not against it. But, you see, if we help Kate – assuming that we do it – and she comes here and sees bad-treated people and get furious…" he even shuddered at the thought.

"Good!" Daphne smiled to herself while being thrown into Red's former cell. "If they treat us softly currently, I'll manage to run away. If I only knew why Beast is going to Italy…"

Since the barrier was blown up by the Hand, it was no wonder that Everafters could now freely get out of the town. But why was Beast going this far away? Mirror could communicate with his Italian followers using Internet. Some necessary magical item could be teleported by any average wizard. Then, again, why was Mirror sending his soldier to Rome?

* * *

**Please note that this story isn't related to my The Family's Not Full fanfic, so Beauty and the Beast are shown here differently.**


	6. An Encounter In The Talking Forest

**So here's the Beast's visit to Italy. Where exactly and why? And what happened? Read and see. I hope it's not too melodramatic.**

**Note: flying stallions are as fast as airplanes but you can't feel the speed when riding them. It's magic, after all!**

* * *

**Chapter 6. An Encounter In The Talking Forest**

The Beast and his flying stallion were heading for Italy. The Beast had a map and gave directions to the stallion.

The sky was perfectly clear except for several patrol dirigibles – some were humans', and some were the Hand's. They were hovering too low, though, to pay attention to the Beast, so he felt wonderfully free. He even talked to his stallion (which could understand him but couldn't talk):

"The Master's plan is quite strange, you know. I don't know why it's this necessary. Oh, well, the Master promised to give me a nice award if I would succeeded. So it doesn't matter why I'm doing this. And anyway, I love to travel – after two centuries of imprisonment!

"How I wish Beauty and Natalie could see it…" he suddenly whispered, but shook his head to throw the thought away.

He gazed at the amazing panorama of Granada below him: they had already reached Europe.

"Be ready to start descending," he commanded.

For an amount of time, the Beast watched the sparkling water of the Mediterranean Sea getting closer – and closer – and closer. Then there was land below them again, and the stallion finally landed in a field, not far from a small forest.

A gnome patrol, whose leader was carrying the Hand's flag, spotted the Beast and marched to him.

"Give us your ID!" one of the gnomes barked. They checked the Beast's magical documents with every wizardry method possible, until the leader sighed in relief and asked:

"Where are you going and why?"

"The forest over there," the Beast pointed. "Operation Amber. The Master must have informed you of it."

"Yes, indeed, sir," the gnome nodded. "Good luck," he added respectfully.

"Take care of the stallion, will you?" and with this rhetorical question the Beast left the group.

He walked to the forest. It wasn't a usual one, and he was well aware of the fact. Two centuries ago, it was ten times as large as now, but then a fire occurred and destroyed most of it. But not the fire mattered. There was something more special about the trees left after it.

For it was the exact wood where Geppetto went to cut a tree, and then carve a wooden doll which later was turned into a boy and known as Pinocchio.

Pinocchio had once told Mirror of this forest, and now Mirror sent the Beast there for some magical wood that can revive inanimate things.

The Beast wasn't sure how to get wood from living trees.

"Ahem," he said loudly. "Hello – er… dear trees."

For a moment, he heard nothing but rustling of their leaves and crackling of branches, but then suddenly he realized the trees were speaking in their own way:

"Hello, stranger," they said. "What brought you here?"

"I need some magical wood," the Beast said, hesitating.

"What?" the trees exclaimed. The leaves rustled loudly as in a fierce storm.

"It's urgent," the Beast cried. "The Master will chop my head off or hang me if I don't bring the wood. And it's about another man's life, too!"

He took out his knife, but then something unexpected happened. The trees' roots got out of earth and pushed him away to the field.

"Enough of that!" the forest was shouting… no, crackling and rustling. "Geppetto knew us for a long time – he planted new trees for us and watered us during droughts. When he needed wood, he took the dead trees. And now a stranger comes and threaten us with a knife!"

The Beast tried to cut the roots, but soon his knife got stuck and taken away underground.

* * *

The Beast was in the field again, near his stallion and the gnome group. He was thinking what to do next, when suddenly he heard gunshots being fired and spells being yelled at the other end of the bad-tempered forest.

It caught the attention of the gnomes, the stallion _and __the trees_. The Beast acted immediately. Noticing the forest's distraction, he rushed into it again, carefully trying not to step on roots.

Soon it grew quieter again, and the trees noticed the intruder.

"Well, you're not so silly," they said, defeated. "Find some stump and take it. But don't you even dare to cut the young trees!"

One of the roots threw the knife to the Beast and pointed in some direction.

"It must be the way to the nearest stump," the Beast guessed, snatched the weapon and ran as fast as he could. When he was able to see the stump in question, he nearly slammed into a person wearing a grey-and-turquoise uniform.

_The Grimms' follower! How did they know about the operation?_

The Beast stood back, alarmed. But his alarm faded as he recognized the Everafter. She had her hair tied and her face was looking quite fierce – but it was _her_!

"Beauty!" he cried happily. "What a coincidence!"

"Yes indeed," Beauty said coldly, trying to hide the awkward feeling. "How did this happen, may I ask?"

"The Master sent me to gather some magical wood to revive… er… I forgot his name, well, it doesn't matter. That man was turned into a stone," the Beast explained.

The cold expression on Beauty's face vanished, replaced with pure astonishment.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "The same about me! Pinocchio told us about this place… Oh! So Mirror did send help for Kate after all!"

"She's always ready to aid people," the Beast sighed to himself.

They cut the stump in two, and each of them took a half.

"How did you out-trick these trees?" the Beast wanted to know.

"Oh, I didn't. I only asked if they had some unnecessary wood and they showed me the way. They were rather polite with _me_," Beauty shrugged. "The most difficult thing was getting in here. These gnomes nearly got me killed."

She shuddered at the memory and turned to walk away.

"I missed you so much," the Beast said.

"Nonsense. We're divorced, and that's final," she said, as she turned to face him again. "I hope you're not trying to blackmail me or to get Natalie into this Scarlet Hand business again. 'Cause if you are, you'll be in a big trouble when I get back to our fort."

"I'm honest. I really missed you. I'm tired of these pointless battles with my friends and relatives… the former ones."

"One more word – and I'm calling our spies for help," Beauty snapped. Beast hesitated, not knowing what to do. She, on the other hand, stood still for several moments – then, suddenly, she dropped the wood and burst into tears.

"What's that, dear?" the Beast cried.

"It was cruel of you to leave me like this – for what? For that stupid world-domination plan!" she sobbed. "And now you're even more cruel to hint on reconciling! You've never loved me!"

Before the Beast could utter a word, she continued in a high hysterical voice:

"Haven't your Master told you the story of that girl – Kate? Her fiancé sacrificed himself for her, and he was sure she didn't even love him and cheated on him! And _you_? _We_'re married with a child, you knew I loved you, I have always been loyal to you – yet you go to the enemies and offer them your help! How could you do such a thing?.. Leave your family and join the army of some lunatic?.. How?.."

The fierce female warrior was gone. Instead, the Beast saw the same scared but determined girl he had met centuries ago. The remorse he had been trying to overcome for many years filled his heart.

"I've started to regret it soon after joining," he said softly. "But…"

"But – what?" Beauty groaned.

"I was afraid of Charming's army – and… you and Natalie. I was afraid you wouldn't take me back – as a husband and a father…"

"Wouldn't – take – you – back?" Beauty gasped and rushed into his arms.


	7. The Rebellion

**Chapter 7. The Rebellion**

Mirror was getting furious. It had been eight days since the Beast was sent to the talking forest, and he still hadn't returned. He hadn't even sent any notes. The Scarlet Hand Italian patrols indicated that the Beast was last noticed going into the magical forest, and then Mirror's followers lost any trace of him.

But the Beast's disappearance wasn't the worst and the most unexpected thing. After all, the Beast could be killed or spellbound by the talking trees or – who knows? – by the enemies.

The worst thing was the rebellion in the Hand's army. Oz and Glinda had run away from the prison and formed their own anti-human and anti-Scarlet Hand group. They called it the Gray Knife, and it was ten times as fierce as the Hand. Oz planned on destroying the whole human civilization, including objects of art, buildings and weapons.

Mirror didn't like his ideas, and that was the cause of the rebellion.

Mirror wanted humans to be his slaves, and he certainly didn't wish to destroy their culture: on the contrary, he respected it. So now he had to fight both the Grimm's followers and the Gray Knife group.

One of his card soldiers entered his workroom.

"Another letter from the Gray Knife group, Master," he said worriedly.

Mirror cringed but opened the letter handed by the soldier. Its contents were the following:

* * *

_TO THE TRAITOROUS SCARLET HAND GROUP_

_Mirror, listen to us before it gets too late! If you don't join the Gray Knife, we'll kill you on the very day of our victory. Nobody will be spared. If you join, though, you'll save the lives of yourself and your followers. Can't you understand that else you'll be dead? You can die on the battlefield or on the day when the Gray Knife takes over the world._

_Wasn't it your idea to free the Everafters? Wasn't it you who started the war against the wretched humans? And now you seem to be a friend of theirs again._

_Moreover, you don't allow your soldiers to leave your army. If you are so stubborn and dull, let the clever Everafters save their lives. _

_If all of you are brainless, then, sorry, we can't spare your lives._

_Signed: Oz, Glinda, the Queen of Hearts – THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE GRAY KNIFE._

* * *

"Do _you _want to join them?" Mirror asked the soldier.

"Nonsense!" he answered. "They want to destroy everything, almost the whole planet. No one wants to join them among us."

"Thanks," Mirror sighed, relieved, and wrote a reply, which was as "polite" as the letter itself:

* * *

_TO THE TRAITOROUS GRAY KNIFE GROUP_

_Oz, I still have many thousands of followers, so the day of the victory may be soon celebrated by us. Stop your silly campaign before it gets too late. Can't you see that if you destroy humans and all their culture, then:_

_a) nobody will be there to serve you but yourselves;_

_b) we'll have no place to live;_

_c) the whole planet will look – well, poor._

_And I warn you – if we win and you get caught, we won't spare your lives either. You still have some time to think too._

_Oh, and I almost forgot – if Operation Amber succeeds, the number of your enemies will be ten thousand times as large as now. If I were you, I wouldn't just wait to see how and why. I would join the Hand back immediately._

_Signed – Mirror, Nottingham, Mr. and Mrs. Arachnid, the White Rabbit – THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE SCARLET HAND._

* * *

"Deliver this now," Mirror ordered. The card soldier nodded, took the letter and ran away.

"If Operation Amber succeeds," Mirror murmured to himself. "It must succeed… I'll send another soldier if the Beast is killed…"

There was another knock on the workroom door.

"What _now_?" Mirror shouted, quite annoyed. "Tell the Gray Knife messenger that I don't want to waste time reading their letters!"

"Very sorry, Master," the Cheshire Cat appeared. "It's not from the Gray Knife Castle, it's from Fort Charming."

"Why don't they just fight or surrender?" Mirror groaned. "Or perhaps use e-mail? I'm tired of receiving messenger after messenger!"

He took the letter and exclaimed:

"It's the Beast!"

"Killed?" the Cheshire Cat wanted to know.

Mirror shook his head and read the letter aloud:

* * *

_TO THE SCARLET HAND'S HEADQUARTERS_

_Mirror, we have to inform you that the Beast has joined our army. The magic wood is successfully received, and we're now working on the necessary magic wand. Kate and Vera said thanks to you. They also can't understand why your Scarlet Hand is fighting us at all._

_Signed – Prince William Charming, Snow White, the Grimm family – THE HEADQUARTERS OF CHARMING'S ARMY._

* * *

"Of course, Kate always has to ask for a peaceful solution of the problem!" Mirror grunted. "Can't she understand that sometimes peace is out of the question?"

"By the way, Master, my wife – the Fiddling Cat – has been recently killed," the Cheshire Cat said, his smile turning bitter. "Can I arrange a funeral, please?"

"Sure," Mirror nodded. "I'll go and ask for a monument right now."

"Thanks," the Cat said. Mirror walked away. The Cat was hovering in the air and thinking:

"With half of my family killed, I'm starting to agree with that girl – now what's her name – Kate or something… Can't we just settle the whole thing down with humans peacefully? After all, many of them are sympathetic to their bedtime stories."

* * *

**In Fort Charming**

"What do you mean – _can't_?" Kate exclaimed, nearly in tears.

"I didn't say 'can't'. I only said it's very difficult now," Morgan le Fay said reassuringly, "I'm the most powerful wizard right now in Fort Charming. The Blue Fairy is I-don't-know-where, you see, Glinda is a member of the Gray Knife, and the rest of us is either dead or in the Hand. So, getting back to the point… I can't figure out the structure of the wood, and without that, I can't make the wand… _yet_."

"What can we do? Search for the Blue Fairy?" Kate asked, desperate.

"I doubt we'll find her," Sabrina, Puck's wife, joined the argument. "She's not even in Ferryport Landing. She might have fled into space or underwater or underground or to a parallel universe…"

Kate started crying.

"Now, now, we'll figure this out," Veronica Grimm said kindly. "We have to rescue Daphne, and when we do, she'll certainly come up with some ideas."

"I agree," Sabrina nodded. "When I'm lost, she always thinks of something."

Kate sighed and said:

"Then I'll go to Vera and try to cheer her up."

"And we'll think of some mischievous plan to save Marshmallow," Puck said happily. "I adore breaking into prisons. We might even blow it away using the horn of the North Wind."


	8. The Gray Knife Strikes

**Just a warning: the story's not going to be very long.**

* * *

**Chapter 8. The Gray Knife Strikes**

Kate was strolling around the fort, murmuring something to herself. Most of the Grimms were discussing plans to rescue Daphne. Sabrina, though, was watching their young guest suspiciously.

"She might be a spy of the Hand's," she thought. "She did write a letter to Mirror, after all. Maybe the story was entirely false, and the letter was a secret sign of something. On the other hand, the little girl, Vera, is very devoted to Kate, and small children can feel people's character better than I do. I've been often mistaken in my suspense. Anyway, Kate's current behavior is odd – maybe she's ill…"

"Are you alright?" she called Kate aloud.

"No," Kate cried hysterically. "All is bad, and I'm not alright at all!'

She ran to Sabrina:

"Listen, have you got any time machine? I want to go to my past so much. It's hopeless to correct these mistakes in the present…"

"Sorry, Kate!" Sabrina sighed. "We have no machine of such kind. There had been one, but with it you could only travel twelve hours into the past, and, anyway, it's destroyed. But why are you so desperate? I seem more optimistic than you. We've got the magic wood, and we'll figure out how to construct the wand. Don't worry."

"He's physically dead!" Kate sobbed, referring to her spellbound fiancé. "Imagine it – he's standing there – unable to move – to breathe – to feel!.."

"I understand," Sabrina said gently. "My husband, Puck, had once gotten himself into a similar situation. He battled a dragon and it ripped off his wings. A fairy without wings falls unconscious and can die soon. We barely had the time to save Puck. I was a stupid jerk back then, but I remember how I felt when Puck was dying. But he was saved, after all! And your fiancé will be revived as well, I promise."

Kate smiled through tears:

"Thanks. Lately I feel like going crazy – with all this…"

"Sabrina! Where are you?" Veronica's voice called.

"Uh-oh, I can hear big trouble in her voice…" Sabrina murmured, running to Seven's office with Kate.

Veronica met them on the door.

"Listen. Kate, take Vera and hide in the cellars. Sabrina, Puck and Jonathan are waiting for you, as well as several divisions of fairies."

"What?" the women exclaimed in unison.

"The Gray Knife, that new army, is going to attack soon. Jake noticed them on the watchtower."

Veronica was terribly worried. It seemed unusual for Sabrina. True, an enemies' attack is no fun, but there was something worse about this one.

Meanwhile, Kate fetched Vera, and they both hurried to the cellars with other powerless women and children. General Seven and Prince Charming were barking orders at the powerful ones.

"The worst thing is…" Veronica whispered and hesitated for a moment.

"What?" Sabrina cried. "What now?"

"One of their soldiers stole all the magic wood."

"Oh my! How Kate is going to react? She has had a breakdown today already."

"We'll try to get it back," Veronica said. "Now go!"

* * *

**In the Scarlet Fortress**

One of the Gray Knife battalions was attacking the Hand as well. Oz preferred to fight both enemies in the same time. He thought it better, because he was almost safe from unexpected attacks in that case.

Mirror ordered Nottingham to take part of the army and go some distance away to strike from the opposite direction. Nottingham gathered the card soldiers and did just that. Mirror continued fighting, along with the rest of the Hand.

Oz and his followers were roaring dirty insults at them. If they captured anyone, they killed the person immediately. Mirror shuddered at the thought of the Gray Knife's victory.

A group of Oz's soldiers, led by Glinda, opened the western gates of the Scarlet Fortress, The only people not protected by heavy barricades were the Hand's prisoners, Daphne among them.

The guards fled, leaving every door open. So Daphne called all the prisoners to the main corridor and said:

"Now we'll fight the Gray Knife, people. I know it means helping the Scarlet Hand, but we have no choice. The Hand at least is willing to spare our lives and release us after getting some payment for it. But the Knife – its members are going to kill us right away. Anyway, if we win, we can run home from here before the Hand regains control after the battle. So we'll fight, won't we?"

A collective "yes, sure!" echoed in every corridor and cell of the Scarlet Prison.

Since the Hand had been relatively soft lately, most of the prisoners were quite strong. Moreover, they weren't bound in chains. So they found every magical or non-magical weapon they could, stood together and waited for the Gray Knife to find them.

Daphne was elected as the commander. She was good in commanding, so the army was quite well-organized. They counted seconds before the enemies' stroke.

Finally, it happened. Glinda the (not at all) Good Witch and two hundred soldiers rushed inside the prison. They expected to find exhausted captives and maybe some guards that could also be killed. Instead, they were met by a furious army almost as large as their group!

Of course, the Gray Knife was much stronger, but the attack was purely unexpected. At first Glinda thought it was a group of the Hand's soldiers. She lost two dozens of her own people. Those who weren't killed were so confused that they started running away to the forest. The happy prisoners chased them for a while, until Daphne ordered:

"Enough of this. The rest of them will come for help, and if so, we'll be dead in a moment. Now let's run back to the Scarlet Fort and climb the barricades and…"

"Join the Hand?" one of the fairies shouted, shocked.

"No, not like that. We'll mix with the crowd, fight the Gray Knife, and, when the battle ends, we'll hide and get home somehow."

After some short discussions, the former prisoners agreed. Soon, they were climbing up and down the barricades that separated the prison from the rest of the fort.

They were first noticed by Mrs. Arachnid. She seemed startled but cried:

"Oh, we were just about to ask you for help! Mirror has gone somewhere – we don't know where. Five hundred of cards are three miles away. We need all the help we can get – the Knife, it's the enemy of both yours and ours… please, help us!"

"We have to fight the Knife, not help you," Daphne corrected, jumping on the ground. "Never in the world shall we only _help you_. As for fighting the Knife – well, we have no other choice, if we want to get home."

Mrs. Arachnid didn't seem to mind anything about them being free. Neither did anyone else.

Daphne and the rest of the freed prisoners joined the battle. The Gray Knife was going to block the road to Fort Charming for a long time. The members of Charming's army didn't approve of this. They fought.

* * *

**Where did Mirror go in the middle of the battle? Read further and see.**


	9. Win Or Die, No Other Choice

**Chapter 9. Win Or Die, No Other Choice**

Sabrina and Puck led their squadron for the fourth attack. The Gray Knife was merciless. Although its soldiers were exhausted as well, they kept struggling. They wanted every inhabitant of Fort Charming dead.

"Jonathan has been shot through his wing," Puck said while flying in the direction of the enemies. "I saw Nurse Sprat carrying him away."

A tear slipped down Sabrina's face.

"Lena has fallen off a chariot – she didn't have time to use her wings. I think she's pretty bad too."

"Don't worry," Puck said, hopeful as usual. "We'll win. I promise."

"We'll win or die, we don't have any other choice," one of the fairy commanders added.

They literally crashed into the temporary camp of the Gray Knife. A stream of arrows, spells, and spears met them. The fairies attacked with fire, magical arrows and pixie swarms. Soon one of the Knife's arrows was in Sabrina's left arm, but the woman didn't faint. She took her sword in her right arm and continued the fight.

The worst thing about the Gray Knife was its bloodthirsty world-destroying plan. Sabrina was mostly afraid of its success, not of any particular wizards and leaders of the organization.

* * *

Lena was lying in the newly built brick hospital building. Nurse Sprat was attending her wounds.

"You're unable to fight for today," she sighed. "Many bones are broken, Lena. Sorry."

Lena was half-unconscious: she only hoped Mom, Dad, Jonathan, and the rest of the family would be okay. She didn't even hear the doctors treating Jonathan's wounds in a room next door to hers.

* * *

Prince Charming, General Seven, and Henry and Relda Grimm were in Seven's office, sending countless orders and receiving reports. The reports weren't very encouraging.

"Ten fairies dead, six wounded; twenty dwarfs dead, eleven wounded; seventeen Hoyhnhnms dead; twelve wounded…" Henry counted after listening to the fiftieth messenger. "Goodness! I don't remember such losses in the past battles. And these are the losses of only one division."

"That's 'cause we've never seriously dealt with the Gray Knife before," Charming explained grimly. "It has been organized days ago, in fact. Really, I prefer the Hand. They're – well! – more noble compared to _this_!"

"The Gray Knife doesn't know the rules of battling," Seven agreed. "Oz makes his own rules, and they obey him."

"What do we have to do?" Henry exclaimed. "Choose the way of death most suitable for us?"

"We could ask the Hand for help," Charming thought aloud.

"Are you nuts?" Henry and Relda cried in unison.

"Perhaps," Charming shrugged. "The Hand has become softer lately. I think they're considering arranging a peaceful agreement. And these," he pointed to the view of the battle, "will never consider peace!"

"We couldn't ask the Hand for help if we wished to," Seven said. "The Gray Knife blocked every road."

"So, what can we do?" Relda asked.

"Fight," Seven said firmly. "Win or die – no other opportunity!"

* * *

Kate and Vera were standing in a crowd of helpless women and children, all gathered in a special secret cellar of Fort Charming. Squadron Leader Mallobarb was guarding it.

"I doubt the enemies will find it," she said for the hundredth time to calm down the scared people. "The entrance is hidden well."

"Are we winning?" Kate asked her in a trembling voice.

"I know as much as you do," Mallobarb shrugged. "I have no ability of seeing through walls, sadly… I don't want to alarm you, but I heard a certain amount of panic up there in the beginning of the battle. As if the Gray Knife has stolen something extremely valuable."

"Something… valuable…" Kate blanched. She didn't want to think of the worst.

* * *

The part of the Knife's army sent to attack the Scarlet Fort was finally defeated. Nottingham and his cards came as the final unexpected blow and shot all the remaining attackers. Only Mirror wasn't present.

"Was he… killed?" Nottingham asked when Mr. Arachnid told him about it.

"I doubt it," one of the cards said. "Perhaps Master's planning a new something against the enemies."

"By the way," Mrs. Arachnid said aloud. "Our prisoners escaped and were a great help to us."

"Really?" Nottingham said.

"Indeed. They managed to defeat a group of two hundred Gray Knife soldiers all by themselves. I think we must set them free for it."

Nottingham cringed when he noticed Daphne Grimm ahead of the former prisoners' crowd, but considered Mrs. Arachnid's words reasonable nevertheless.

"I hope Master won't mind when he returns," he mumbled. "Alright, if they didn't fight _us_ during the battle, they can go."

Daphne almost squealed happily when she heard it, but controlled herself.

"Thank you! C'mon, let's go to Fort Charming!" she shouted to the released captives. They marched along the forest path.

But when they came to the fort, their joy was gone. Fort Charming was nearly defeated by another half of the Gray Knife army.

"We'll come for help suddenly," Daphne whispered. Everyone in her group nodded and prepared themselves.

"On three…" the girl continued in the same quiet voice. "One… Two… Three!"

They ran and crossed the swords with the nearest Gray Knife soldiers. The latter were rather saddened by the attack, but there were too many of them to get really scared of Daphne's little army.

* * *

"Look, it's Marshmallow!" Puck shouted as he noticed the Gray Knife's small confusion.

"Indeed!" Sabrina smiled, reassured immediately. Daphne was able to handle a whole army – a little one, but an army anyway! And she came just in time, no doubt.

An hour passed. The evening came. The cheerful mood of Charming's followers was short-lived and faded again. The Gray Knife was obviously defeating them.

Sabrina heard a loud crash as the fort's main gates fell on the ground, and a stream of cruel monsters stormed inside, killing everyone they met.

"Puck… It's the end…" she whispered, taking her husband's arm. "Lena… Jonathan – they're both inside…"

Puck held her close to him as she sobbed on his shoulder.

A triumphant cry came from inside the fort. The Knife has found the secret cellar that hid the women and children.

Glinda walked out of Fort Charming, leading Kate, bound in chains, with her.

"That's _that_ Mirror's friend, who spoiled everything in the Scarlet Hand and caused us to fight our former _Master_!" she laughed evilly and raised her knife (which was painted gray). "Prince Charming is captured, as well as the rest of your headquarters. We'll kill them slowly, right now. Starting with you!" she yelled at Kate.

Puck and Sabrina flew for rescue, but were quickly caught by the Knife soldiers.

The rest of the Grimms, Charming, and Seven were led outside too. All were in chains. Jonathan was unconscious. Lena could barely move.

Oz hurried to Glinda and took the knife from her:

"No, please, let me kill the first one of them!"

He slowly raised the blade and slowly brought it down, until it was an inch away from Kate's terrified face. The soldiers did the same with everyone still alive in Fort Charming.

"That's the end…" Sabrina thought, as Glinda's knife sparkled before her eyes. "What a torture!"

"Start the execution!" Oz barked. "Now!"

He raised the blade again, now rapidly, and brought it down even faster.


	10. Peace Is Brought

**Once more sorry if the story seems too short for you. **

**

* * *

**

Chapter 10. Peace Is Brought

But before Oz's knife could leave the tiniest wound on Kate's cheek, Oz suddenly gasped, gulped and dropped the weapon. Sabrina saw shock and uncertainty on his face. Then, he fell down on the ground, groaning in pain.

A coal black arrow was in his back.

Kate jumped up, her face lighting up with hope. She examined it and let out a Daphne-ish-like joyful squeal.

"Vera!" she cried, rushing to the goblin soldier who had before captured the little girl. All the members of the Gray Knife stood, as if frozen by the sudden death of their commander. But when Kate attempted to snatch Vera away from the goblin, he woke up to reality and took his sword, trying to cut the woman's head off.

In only a little more than a second he was on the ground, with a similar black arrow in his chest. Instantly, a literal shower of arrows flew in the direction of the Knife's members. Those who launched them were certainly excellent shots: none of the arrows had missed or hit the wrong target.

Meanwhile, Kate took Vera in her arms and started running in the direction the arrows were coming from.

"Wait!" Daphne and Basil Grimm shouted for her in unison.

"It's very dangerous!" Snow White cried.

"You can get yourself shot!" Sabrina yelled.

The relentless Gray Knife turned into a mob of panicked, terrified individuals. When bolts of lightning and rays of magic started to appear here and there, in addition to the arrows, everyone in Fort Charming realized that this was the Gray Knife's end.

"I see them!" Puck laughed triumphantly. He and Sabrina were standing still, trying not to move: it became really dangerous to walk in all these arrows, pikes, spells and lightning.

"Whom?" Sabrina asked.

"The guys with the arrows. Look!"

Puck was very much amused, and Sabrina figured out that their saviors looked scary or at least bizarre. The stream of arrows slowed down a little. Now Puck and Sabrina were at least able to join the fight. And to see their rescuers properly.

They looked odd, indeed. They were, in fact, living statues made of dark stone or some similar material. Their black fast horses seemed to be normal, but the warriors themselves…

Their army was the largest Sabrina had ever seen. On the right side of it, though, she spotted familiar faces: the army of the Scarlet Hand was assisting the stone warriors.

Everyone noticed the Hand as well. Charming looked around proudly: he _knew_ the Hand would help them to fight the Knife!

"Wait, where are Kate and Vera?" Sabrina suddenly remembered. Puck shrugged. Beauty and the Beast said they had no idea. The rest of the Grimms were looking around worriedly too.

"Don't worry, ugly. We can't search for anyone in a mess like this," Puck said reassuringly. Sabrina smiled and sighed, relieved. Everything was going back to normal – well, normal for Fairyport Landing, of course. Puck called her "ugly" – which meant everything was all right now.

All _was _right, that was true. The Gray Knife had paid for its cruelty.

* * *

The three armies realized that there was nobody left of the Knife, so the fort suddenly became silent. As if someone had turned off the sounds. Charming's people stood still, acknowledging the victory. Sabrina and Puck walked to the rest of the family. Women and children clapped their hands and danced.

That's when Sabrina had finally noticed Kate and Vera.

Kate was sitting on one of the black horses of the strange stone army. She was holding a hand of a man standing next to the horse. He was in stone armor – just like the rest of that army – but he had a human's pale face. His hair was the darkest shade of ebony, and his sparkling sky-blue eyes were focused on Kate.

Sabrina didn't need her detective skills to guess that the man was Iangul, Kate's fiancé. He had now rescued her in a classical fairytale way, she thought.

Vera was also there, feeding the horse with carrots she had gathered in the fort's orchard. Sabrina could have sworn the horse was talking with the girl. It wasn't very stunning for Sabrina Grimm – she had encountered lots of talking animals during her life in Fairyport Landing. But she was surprised that Vera _wasn't_ shocked by the horse's ability.

"Kate and Iangul look perfect together," Sabrina heard a voice. Mirror was standing not far from the Grimms, smiling gladly. "I have always hoped they'd get married."

"Oh, by the way, _how_ was the man revived?" Uncle Jake exclaimed. "The magic wood had been stolen from us by the Knife."

"Nottingham surrounded a group of Oz's followers, and they tried to give him their trophies in exchange for him sparing their lives," Mirror chuckled. "One of these trophies was the box with the magic wood. When the Sheriff brought it to me, I immediately made a new plan to help Kate. So when the Knife attacked our fort and we were almost winning, I quickly took the wood and went to search for Baba Yaga – the only one who'd be able to construct the wand and open the door to the universe Kate lives in.

"Well, after much wandering in the forests, I found _two _Baba Yagas at a time: the one who lives here and her elder sister, Kate's foster granny. The latter hurried to open the door to the place in the parallel world I needed, and then they both carved a magic wand of the wood. The youngest Baba Yaga didn't want to at first, but her sister scolded her and I scared her with lightning, so she agreed at last. And then all I had to do was to go to another universe!

"I revived Iangul, explained the circumstances, and he was ready with his army in less than ten minutes!" Mirror laughed. "The Gray Knife never saw us coming!"

After Mirror had finished, Charming started to make a long speech in order to thank his own soldiers and the stone army. The stone soldiers looked at him with their lifeless eyes, obviously not caring for the praises. Iangul maybe would have cared, but he didn't seem to notice anyone but Kate.

Charming finished the speech at last, and Snow announced:

"Now we'll treat the remaining wounds of yours, and then we'll have an enormous victory celebration! Any questions?"

Mirror raised his hand:

"How about a peaceful agreement between you and us?"

Charming and Snow's eyes grew wide.

"What is the meaning of that?" Lena stammered.

"I changed my plans, that's all," Mirror shrugged. "Now I see that world domination wouldn't have brought me happiness. Why, look at Kate and Iangul! If they had wanted to, they could have helped the Stone Princess with conquering the world. But, as I remember, when the Princess was almost done with this plan, both of them were the saddest of all. Having _all _living things as their servants wasn't for them. Right?" he asked Kate.

Kate and Iangul nodded. Mirror smiled and continued:

"And now – look at them! Kate is going to become the next Stone Princess at most, and they're – well, very happy. So I thought of the whole problem and figured out: why, it's fun to be a Master for a while – even for several years – but I don't want to rule a world this large forever. I've realized it recently. All I really wanted was to get free of the mirror – and I did it long ago. So, the Scarlet Hand changed its goal. We are now referring to ourselves as a Group for Everafter Rights. Neither Everafters nor humans can be logically called the best race in this world. We now want Everafters to be treated like other people. But as for ruling the planet… Oh no.

"Friendship brings real happiness, as I've recently found out," he concluded.

"Wow, I'll be surprised at nothing from now on," Basil said.

"I think we'd better settle peace at last," Red's shy voice squeaked. "I'm tired of wars and nervousness."

"The girl has a point," Mr. Canis agreed.

"Indeed," Snow White said.

"OK," Charming nodded, hearing the last remark. "Alright, Mirror, in that case, stop terrorizing human population and… change the symbol of the Hand. Scarlet handprints are creepy. As for the new goal of your group, it can be reached peacefully, I think."

Mirror and Charming shook hands, and everyone applauded.

"I can't even believe Fairyport Landing has achieved peace," Sabrina sighed. At this very moment, a rotten banana was thrown at her, narrowly missing her head.

"PUCK!" Sabrina turned to face her husband.

"Just saving you from boredom," Puck smirked. Daphne, Basil, Jonathan, and Lena laughed to tears.

"Hey there!" Mirror called them. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to Kate?"

"Is she going back to her world right now?" Daphne cried. "But the feast! The victory feast…"

"Iangul doesn't like large feasts – and small ones either. He's not exactly a cheery and talkative man," Mirror said. "They're going to have a _very _humble wedding in the Stone Tower. They won't even call any guests, except for their servants."

The Grimms hurriedly walked to say goodbye to Kate, who had almost become a close friend.

Iangul, Kate, and Vera were all sitting on the black horse, ready to ride away.

"Goodbye, and thank you for bringing the peace to us," Sabrina said to Kate respectfully.

"We'll miss you!" Daphne cried.

"Goodbye, and I'll never be able to express my great thanks to you all for bringing Iangul back to life!" Kate smiled, looking at her fiancé lovingly. Sabrina thought it odd that Iangul hadn't spoken a word to them, but, according to Kate, he didn't like to speak at all.

"Thanks from all the army for saving our lives," Uncle Jake spoke to Iangul. The latter looked at him and nodded faintly.

"He understands some English, and now he's actually flattered," Kate explained. "You must forgive him. He rarely ever speaks, as I've told you."

Just then Iangul shortly spoke something to her in a foreign language. Kate saddened and translated:

"The door between our worlds is closing in an hour, and we need forty minutes to get to it. Sorry! Farewell again! I'll never forget you and your help!"

"Be good girl, my friend," Mirror told Kate. "Take care of Iangul and Vera."

"I will, certainly!" she and Vera waved to the crowd one last time.

"We're going!" the horse announced suddenly in a deep voice. Vera laughed.

The stone army slowly turned in the opposite direction and rode away, led by Iangul and Kate. Kate sometimes turned her head to smile at the fort's inhabitants, until the whole army was only slightly visible on the horizon.

* * *

**Another epilogue-like chapter, and this fanfic ends. Sorry again for the shortness, but it's only actually an alternate ending to a movie. I have even planned before to make it a oneshot, but then decided to give more details, romance, battles, humor, and cliffhangers.**


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

**Four Years Later**

Jonathan and Lena were hiding outside the town, in the wide farmland fields. Jonathan had just thrown eleven glop grenades at Lily Drefian, Rapunzel's thirteen-year-old daughter, and he had to hide for a while. His mother always got furious about such pranks.

Lena, as a caring sister, accompanied Jonathan in his hiding place.

Suddenly, they saw two walking houses: the first with chicken legs, and the second with goose ones.

"Baba Yagas!" Jonathan laughed.

"The elder Yaga has come for a visit again," Lena agreed. "I wonder what news she brought. Hey!" she called. She knew that the elder Baba Yaga was softer than her sister, so it was safe to talk with her.

"Hello!" Baba Yaga Sr. called back. "You're the Trickster Princes, right?"

"That's true," Jonathan nodded. "Only don't tell Mom and Dad that we're here."

"No, no, we won't!" Baba Yaga Sr. smiled. "I only came for a minute, to tell everyone the news! Guess what?"

"What? How are Kate and Vera doing?"

"Vera is attending a prestigious girls' boarding school in the capital. She's an excellent student," Baba Yaga Sr. paused before telling the _real _great news:

"Kate has given birth to two children – a boy and a girl!"

"Oh!" Lena clapped. "How wonderful!"

"The girl was named Lena after you, and the boy was called Vladi_mir_ – partly after _Mir_ror," Baba Yaga Sr. continued. "They are so cute; Kate, Iangul, Vera and I adore them. When the kids grow up a little, we might bring them to you for a visit."

"Congratulations!" Jonathan said.

"And how are you doing?" Baba Yaga, Sr. wondered.

"We're also doing great. Uncle Basil got married to his former schoolmate Madeline two years ago," Lena told her. "Jonathan and I are going to college this autumn. Mirror has bought a small house not far from ours and started writing and selling encyclopedias – can you imagine? Well, he's successful in that. But he continues to be the leader of the Everafter Rights Political Party "The Scarlet Hand". It is wide-known in the world now. As for the rest of us, we live in the same way as we did just after the Gray Knife's defeat."

"Kate and Iangul will be glad to hear that!" Baba Yaga, Sr. said happily. "It will make Kate heal faster – she hasn't recovered from giving birth to the children. Thanks to you both! I'll be going now. Sorry for the terribly short visit, but Vera had to leave for her school yesterday, and Kate isn't well yet, as I've said. Iangul is looking after her, and I have to look after Vladimir and Lena until she heals. I'm the only other woman in the tower – the servants do not count. Goodbye, thanks again! Say hello to your family and friends!"

"And you say hi to Kate, Iangul, Vera _and_ the babies! Tell Kate we're still grateful for the peace she brought to us!" Lena shouted.

Baba Yaga, Sr. waved them goodbye, shook hands with her sister and told her not to be a jerk. Then the goose-legged house quickly ran away into the forest. The chicken-legged house marched in another direction.

Just then, Jonathan heard Sabrina shouting:

"Jonathan! I can see you! You're under the bush near the road! Come here now – and apologize to Lily!"

"Don't worry," Lena calmed her brother. "When Mom hears any good news, she temporarily forgets bad things and pranks."

"OK, so I'll tell her about Kate's children right now," Jonathan agreed and cried:

"Mom! Mom! Come here! We have excellent news!"

**The End.**

* * *

**FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN DETAILS:**

**So, there it is. An alternate ending to The Book of Masters movie, reached with the help of the Sisters Grimm characters. If you want to know the actual ending and the full plot, look up The Book of Masters in Wikipedia or on IMDb. As I've said in the first A/N, I didn't like that ending much.**


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